cavaleiro

Forms

cavaleiro m (plural cavaleiros, feminine cavaleira, feminine plural cavaleiras)^[1] Old spellings include caualeyro (1277), cabaleyro and caualieyro (15th century).^[2] Wiktionary lists cavalleiro, cavaleyro and cavalleyro.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin caballārius (“groom, horseman”), written Old Galician-Portuguese caualeyro in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Michaelis and DELPo analyse it as cavalo with the suffix -eiro.^[4][5] The Spanish form gave Portuguese the doublet cavalheiro.^[6][1]

The same Latin word is Galician cabaleiro, Spanish caballero, Catalan cavaller and French chevalier.^[7][1]

The Latin noun is formed caballus (“horse, workhorse”) with the suffix -ārius.^[1] The origin of the Latin word is unclear: de Vaan notes that Ancient Greek καβάλλης (kabállēs, “nag”) is independent of it and that Beekes sees an Asian loanword, while Wiktionary mentions the common view that it came from Gaulish.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado's dictionary of names records the surname Johannes Cavalleiro in 1220.^[9] Houaiss's first record of the noun is from 1277.^[2] In the Cancioneiro da Ajuda a cavaleiro is a nobleman, and the Cantigas de Santa Maria tell of un cavaleiro namorado “a knight in love”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Galician records the cavaleiro is a noble of high rank, ranked below the infançon and above the escudeiro.^[10][1] Barbosa (1611) has the plain sense “man on horseback” beside cavaleiro fidalgo and cavaleiro armado.^[11] Caldas Aulete records the old sense of a man who served in war on a horse kept at his own expense, and the member of an order of chivalry, admitted after a novitiate.^[12] In the 16th and 17th centuries the title was given to those who wore a sword.^[2]

The phrase a cavaleiro “in a high, commanding position” is dated 1713.^[2] Houaiss also lists the fortification sense, a raised work on which guns are placed.^[2] In Maranhão and Amazonas a cavaleiro is a high wave of the pororoca.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1220 – the surname Johannes Cavalleiro.^[9]
• 1277 – first record of the noun, spelt caualeyro.^[2]
• 13th century – the spelling cavaleiro.^[2][3]
• 15th century – the spellings cabaleyro and caualieyro.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists cavaleiro fidalgo and cavaleiro armado.^[11]
• 1713 – first record of a cavaleiro.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A horseman, a rider; someone who knows how to ride.^[2][1][12]
2. A cavalry soldier.^[2][1]
3. (historical) A knight, a mounted warrior of the Middle Ages.^[2][1]
4. A member of an order of chivalry (cavalaria); the holder of the first grade of an honorific order.^[2][14]
5. (historical) A noble ranking below a baron.^[2][1]
6. (figurative) A noble, brave or courteous man.^[2][14]
7. A bullfighter on horseback.^[2]
8. (fortification) A raised work on which guns are placed.^[2][15]
9. (physics) A tiny wire weight used on a balance, a rider.^[2][15]
10. (Maranhão, Amazonas) A high wave of the pororoca.^[2][13]

Adjective

1. Relating to cavalry or to chivalry.^[2][1]
2. Riding; high, overlooking.^[2][14]

Related words

• cavalo
• cavalheiro
• cavalaria
• Latin caballus
• Spanish caballero

Usage notes

Cavaleiro andante is the knight errant of the Middle Ages, and o cavaleiro da triste figura Don Quixote.^[2] The feminine for a rider is amazona.^[12][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cavaleiro
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cavaleiro
4. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. cavaleiro
5. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. cavaleiro
6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cavalheiro
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. caballarius
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, https://ciberduvidas.iscte-iul.pt
10. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. cavaleiro
11. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cavaleiro
12. ^ a b c Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. cavaleiro
13. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. cavaleiro
14. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cavaleiro
15. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cavaleiro